A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the

Church of Christ, Union

All Saints Sunday

Sharing the Lord’s Supper

November 2, 2014, 10:30 am

Meditation

“Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can,As long as ever you can.”

  John Wesley, founder of Methodism. 1703-1791

From there to HEre

Welcome and Announcements              
Prelude     We’re Marching to Zion          arr. G. Young
*  Call to Worship
One:     We are surrounded by clouds of witnesses!
All:      We are not alone, we did not arrive here without aid.
One:     Friends, let us worship the God all creation, the Lord of the living and the dead.
All:      Home is not just a place. It is the presence of Love in the Living.
*  Opening Hymn #598       On River Jordan’s Banks I Stand        Promised Land
*   Prayer of Approach and Confession
One:    God of our parents in faith, through the ages you called forth people — courageous, faithful, and steadfast. Forgive us when we disregard the witness of those who have gone before us. Our memories are dim.
Our faith does not burn with a passion as that of those who offered their entire lives to you.
Open us to the past and to the bold testimony to faith in our world today. Connect us to the great cloud of witnesses so we may proclaim Christ’s justice and compassion in our own time.
[Silent prayers offered]
One:     God, in your mercy,
All:      Forgive us.
*  Words of Assurance
One:    God welcomes us, like a mother scooping up her lost children, like a father embracing his prodigal offspring. We are encouraged to learn from that forgiveness, to offer it to ourselves and others again and again. In Christ Jesus, you are forgiven.
All:      In Christ Jesus, you are forgiven.  Thanks be to God!
*  Passing the Peace of Jesus Christ
All who come to this sanctuary are welcome companions on this day! You are invited to turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace and joy.

The Word in our Midst

Anthem    Come, All Who Thirst  Luigi Cherubini
Union Church Choir
“Come, all who thirst, come to the waters, you that have no money, buy and eat without a price. Listen, come to me and your soul shall live. My love is ever true. “
Hebrew Scripture Lesson                       Joshua 3:7-17
Children’s Moment                                       As the children return to their seats, we sing:

May God’s presence guard, protect and guide you.  God bless you, God bless you. Our savior’s loving arms be ever ’round you. God bless you, God bless you.

Following Children’s Moment, children grades K-3 are invited to Children’s Church, which takes place in the chapel.  If this is your child’s first time attending Children’s Church, please accompany them to fill out a registration form.  Otherwise, children are welcome to follow volunteers to their worship spaces. For children preschool & under, care is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Community Room. Please pick up your children in the Chapel after the service.
Gospel Lesson                  Matthew 23:1-12
Sermon     Crossing Over Rev. Kent Gilbert

Gifts given for Love to flow

Call to Offering
Our gifts help sustain this particular community of caring by sustaining the building, pastors and staff, and all the materials that make our ministry of healing, justice, and teaching available to all in need. In addition, a good portion of our contributions flows out to aid to those in need via many external agencies.
This can now be done online or by text to  859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering” to contribute to the ongoing ministries, or add “youth,” or “missions” or designation of your choice to benefit one in particular.)
Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
 Offertory             Let Us Break Bread Together             A. Zabel
*   Doxology             Schumann
                  We give thee but thine own, what e’er the gift may be.
                  All that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from Thee!

Being and Becoming One

* Invitation to Communion
One:     God be with you.
All:      And also with you.
One:     Lift up your hearts.
All:      We lift our hearts in prayer.
One:     Let us give thanks to God.
All:      It is good to give God thanks and praise.
Ringing of the Peace Bell
The Union Church Peace Bell was created by Jeff Enge in honor of Union Church member Carl Eschbach (1904-1998).  A twin bell hangs in Berea’s sister province in Japan and is also rung in the hope of peace for all nations.
Silent Prayers and Prayers of the Community
One:     Remembering All Saints Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate and remember those in our lives who have gone before us.  Their presence in our community has contributed to and shaped our work, our life, character and story.
One:     We remember those whose faithful witness proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ in words loud and soft, in actions great and small.
All:      We gather before God, and remember the saints who have told the stories of God’s people, and witnessed to their faith in times gone by.
[The Peace Bell will be rung as the names of members of the church who have died in the past year are read.  In addition we hold in our prayers the memory of each and every loss suffered by members as we commend them to God.]
We remember:
            Shirley Dean            Harry Piland
            Elizabeth Orwig                  Virginia Piland
One:     We remember those known in our lives who have died in this last year.  Please stand and remain standing if you have lost a grandmother or grandfather in this last year.  Your mother or father.  A spouse or partner.  A child.  A brother or sister.  An aunt or uncle.  A close relative.  A classmate, teacher or mentor.  A dear friend.  A member of your work or school community.
One:     Let us not grieve as those without hope, for the Spirit intercedes for us, and Christ is Lord of the Living and of the dead.  For al the saints who went before us who have spoken to our hearts and touched us with your fire, we praise you, O Lord.
All:      They will hunger no more and thirst no more; and every tear shall be wiped from their eye.
[All may be seated.]
Communion Prayer
One:     Like others who have gone before us, we hear Jesus calling us to change and be changed, to reform and be reformed, to challenge the church, and to allow ourselves to be challenged, that we might better serve you as the Body of Christ.  For all the saints who live beside us, whose weaknesses and strengths are woven with our own, we praise you, O Lord.
One:     You sent Jesus to share our life and journey with us, to show us how to live as you want.  With his words and actions, Jesus taught us that the ways of God are different from the ways of the world.  We are called to be your peacemakers, to hunger and thirst for what is right, and to show mercy to others.  for all the saints who live beyond us who challenge us to change the world with them, we give you thanks, O Lord, and acknowledge your call:
All:      Here we are; send us.
One:     Jesus invited saints and sinners to dine with him and be his friends.  And Jesus invites us – saints and sinners – to this meal, in which we can taste and see, experience and remember the goodness of our God.  We give you thanks and praise as we sing:
Communion Sanctus                   please join in singing:
Words of Institution
One:    We remember that on the night in which he died, Jesus sat at table with his friends, took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying:
All:      “Take and eat,
One:     this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”
One:     After supper he took the cup of wine and, after giving thanks, gave it to them and said,
All:      “Drink this, all of you:
One:     this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you and many for  the forgiveness of sins.  Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
One:     God of heaven and earth, bless what we do here.  Send your Holy Spirit upon us and our world that we may live to see your law and your way become our reality.
Serving One Another
All who seek the love of God are welcome at this meal and are invited to freely receive from it.  We will share the elements today by intinction, dipping the bread in the cup. When invited please come to one of the stations by exiting your pew to the left and returning by the right. If it is not convenient to come forward, the elements can be brought to your seat by signaling to the usher. All the bread is gluten-free, and the chalices are filled with non-alcoholic grape juice.
If it is not your tradition to receive, you are invited to join in prayers for the unity of the Spirit and all people, within your tradition.
Blessing for Those Who Will Receive at Home
Members who have been designated to carry communion to those who could not be with us this morning are invited forward at this time. The elements from our meal will go with our blessing and prayers for our continued unity in the Spirit. If you would like serve by taking communion to others, you are very welcome to do so and are invited to volunteer.
Prayer of Thanksgiving

From Here to There

The conclusion of our service will be held in the Memorial Garden (weather permitting).  When invited, please proceed directly to the garden through the door near the Peace Bell and gently tie your names as directed. Please bring your bulletin with you. For those who wish to remain in the sanctuary, the sound system will remain on so you can hear and participate. Please assist any in need in your row as we minister to each other.
*  Hymn #299 Black           For All the Saints        Sine Nomine
*  Benediction & Sending Forth
One:     The Scriptures tell us that… “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”
All:      We stand together at this crossroads of time moving from mourning to dancing.
One:     Let us remember the words of Paul… “So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh – for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
All:      We are all children of God, tied together by the ever-present, sustaining Spirit of God.
One:     Today we remember that it is from God that we come, and it is to God that our spirits return.  God is our dwelling place in all generations.  In God we find our comfort and our strength.  And in God’s Holy Spirit we shall remain connected forever.
All:      Amen.

*  Please rise in body or in spirit

Especially in our prayers
Each week we join millions of Christians who pray for one another through the ecumenical prayer cycle and, locally, the Berea Ministerial Association’s prayer cycle.  Let us hold the people of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and our brothers and sisters at Church on the Rock in your hearts, and pray for them.
Please also hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week:
* Those in harm’s way in service of our country, and those who wait and worry for them
* Our church family members in nursing homes:  Edith Hansen, Klara Welsh, Bernice Robertson, Nancy Jones, Mary Miller, Averill Kilbourne, Alva Peloquin
* Don Robertson, Bernice’s son and caregiver, has had a serious heart attack and is being treated at St. Joe Main.
* Hamrick Walters
* Teri Van Pelt and Christine Ward and their family
* Michelle Hayden’s friend, Stacy, who is very ill
* Akaki Matcharadze, one of our new Berea College student members, who has had to go home to the country of Georgia for the rest of the semester. Prayers for his safe travel and wellbeing
* Reid Livingston, Lisa Bosley and family, at the death of Reid’s father, Phil, at 93
* A service for Virginia Piland will be held on November 8 in Wheeling, Illinois
* Myrtle Davis, Back Bay Mission recipient, on dialysis
* Peggy & John Coyne’s niece, Michaela, and her fiancé Hillary for their upcoming wedding, and for Hillary’s father with kidney problems
 
Assisting in Worship
Worship Leader today is Sue Peterson Blyth
Sound System Operator & Videographer today: Della Walters Next week: Emma White
Announcements 
You Matter! Please Sign the Register, Check in on Facebook/Twitter and try a nametag! It’s hard to get to know people elsewhere, but we don’t want it that way at church.  Use the pew folder in your row, passing it back when all have signed. Let’s all try to get to know each other better.

You are the SALT of the earth!  Help us plan as we budget for 2015 as a year of Serving and Loving Together.  We continue our three-week campaign to prepare for planning our 2015 budget.  Over these weeks, we ask you to pray for guidance as to how you might be able to pledge to give to this community in order to sustain its work and ministry.  As a self-sustaining church, it is up to us to find ways to fund our vital ministries of unbounded hospitality; thoughtful, inspirational and intentional faith development; passionate worship; risk-taking mission and service; and extravagant generosity and care in stewardship.

      Watch for a letter from our pastors and information on our budget plans.  You will also receive a pledge card, and we encourage you to fill it out and bring it to our service of dedication on November 9^th.  By doing this, you will help us plan for the ways in we can continue our service and love to our neighbors and to each other over the next year.
To help you in this, we have an electronic tool called easyTithe, through which you can set up automatic checking account withdrawals if that will help you.  Dave Kobersmith will be available after church to help you with questions you might have about how to use easyTithe.
Thank you for your prayerful consideration.  It is not easy to talk about how we give, but it is ever so important.  You are a vital to our mission, and your gifts are what make it possible.
Other ways to give — There’s help available today! Register for Kroger Community Rewards AND Amazon Smile too! See Leslie Small Stokes, Bill Srsic & Dave Kobersmith— they have their laptops and will help you!
      Kroger is committed to helping our communities grow and prosper. Year after year, local schools, churches and other nonprofit organizations will earn millions of dollars through Kroger Community Rewards. If you have a Kroger Plus Card, go to kroger.com/communityrewards and register with Church of Christ, Union.  Then all you have to do is shop at Kroger and swipe your Plus Card! You must have a Kroger Plus Card to register, they are available at any Kroger store.
      Amazon Smile -When you can’t shop local for what you need, many turn to Amazon.com. Here’s a way to help locally even if you have to shop online. Amazon supports charities with a special program called “Smile.” By registering and choosing Union Church as your charity, Amazon will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases the ministry of the congregation. While each contribution might be small, it all adds up, and your purchases can support the mission of peace and justice we all care so much about.
Pearl Marshall is looking for a car to borrow from November 6 until the 17th. Jack will be out of town during this time and they’re only a one car family. He would be taking their car.  She is looking for transportation to and from work, which is less than a half a mile from their house in Richmond, and then on 2 Sundays and 1 Wednesday to come from Richmond to Berea to attend Union Church, and direct the handbell choir. If you have a spare car or think you can help please give us a shout either at church or on the phone at 859-408-5508.

Next Sunday Images of Ghana Potluck, Art Exhibit and Sale: On Sunday, November 9th, 6:30 pm, a fundraiser will be held in the Community Room to benefit St. John Methodist Church in KomFueku, Ghana. This small village has a population of about 1600 homes. The church and the school are the primary sources for spiritual and educational development for the village Valerie Watkins will offer a power point presentation with slides describing her experience in Ghana and sharing the images and stories of this life transforming experience.

      Photographs taken by Valerie and some of the students who travelled to Ghana this past summer will be on exhibit in the Pross Gallery just off the Community Room. Eight local Berean Artists will also participate in the exhibit by interpreting the Ghanaian photographs using a variety of mixed media to represent those photographed images. The exhibit pieces will be for sale and/or donations will be solicited.  Contact Valeria Watkins Watkinsv8@yahoo.com for more info.

      Bring a dish to share if you can, all are welcome!!

November 16 Christmas with a Conscience – Mark your Calendar!  On Sunday, noon—2:00 pm in the Community Room! What to buy for that friend or family member for the holidays? Does your sister really need another sweater? Why not give alternative gifts this year that reach toward your loved ones’ hopes and dreams for a better world? Maybe what your friends and family really want for this year is health care, food and housing for those in need, or disaster relief for the Philippines. Come and shop for that alternative gift for your loved ones AND share in a delicious soup lunch to benefit Berea Faith Community Outreach (BFCO). If your organization might like to participate, contact a member of the Mission and Service Board.